Fewer recipient countries, fewer sectors and bigger programs, is the Swedish governments’ medicine for making aid more efficient. “We need to create a strong result-oriented culture," it states in the budget proposition for next year.

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Swedish Auditor General hints at massive Sida NGO fraud

An investigation by the Swedish National Audit Office of aid channelled through NGOs finds irregularities in all the projects reviewed. Sida is harshly criticised for allowing the misuse of aid funds to continue undetected.

ActionAid wants to become a dominant player on the international scene. The mainly British and Italian NGO has an aggressive plan which includes establishing branch offices in the Nordic region.

Finnish development policy takes shape

A draft White Paper on development policy is being circulated and will be presented to Parliament shortly.

Norway cuts NOK 25m in Ethiopia aid

Norway has terminated six aid programmes in Ethiopia and expansion of seven others has been stopped. Aid is cut by NOK 25 million this year. The move comes after Ethiopia kicked out six of nine Norwegian diplomats last August.

The Swedish government has started a process of downsizing the aid agency Sida and taking control of policy making.

The government seeks to strengthen three areas in Swedish aid: democracy and human rights, gender equality and women’s rights, and the environment and climate change. Human rights will be pursued aggressively, with explicit exit options if recipient countries fail to comply.

When the Red-Green Norwegian government took office two years ago, it promised to increase funding to the UN at the expense of the World Bank. Now Development Minister Erik Solheim is doing the opposite.

Development Today asked the Project Leader at the Swedish National Audit Office Staffan Ivarsson what conclusions can be drawn from the report about the 6,000 NGO projects funded by Sida.

Nordic Darfur force

The UN and the African Union have accepted an offer from Norway and Sweden to provide an engineer unit for the UN/AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

At the UN Summit in New York, Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt announces the establishment of a Commission on Climate Change and Development to be chaired by Development Minister Gunilla Carlsson.

More budget support to Zambia

Sida has signed a one-year agreement for budget support to Zambia worth SEK 12 million, an amount that makes up about one-third of the country’s Swedish aid frame.